Reply #8: There are only two ways to create wealth in America:

[AP]

-either by getting paid for your labor, or by getting a return on an investment of capital.

If you start off rich, you have access to capital and you can worry less about getting paid for your labor.

If you're like most Americans, all you have when you're born is your is your labor. If you can't get a fair rate for your labor, you're screwed.

The best way to increase the value of your labor is through education and experience. When you're young, you don't have experience, but you can get an education.

Now, if you're trying to maximize the value of your labor because you don't have much capital, you have a problem with getting an education, which is that you don't have the money to pay for it.

Of course, you can get a loan, but that's forcing you to finance your own economic development while giving a huge cut to the private bank which gave you the loan. That's where public education comes into play. Public education is the best way to help people maximize the value of their labor, when they have nothing else to trade on.

For many people, this is their only entre into the middle class. And having a big, wealthy middle class is not only crucial for having a competitive wealth-producing economy, it's crucial for democracy.

Public education is the cornerstone of a functioning society.